Specimens of Religious Scenes on Sino-Sogdian Funerary Monuments and Sogdian Ossuaries

Authors

  • Li Sifei School of History and Civilization, Shaanxi Normal University (Xi’an).

Keywords:

Sino-Sogdian funerary monuments, Sogdian art, Zoroastrian deities, ossuary

Abstract

Richly embellished tombs of powerful Sogdian immigrants found in China have greatly increased our knowledge on Central Asians who were active along the so-called Silk Road during medieval times. Sino-Sogdian funerary monuments often display scenes such as banquets, hunts, and funerals with images of Sogdian Zoroastrian deities that offer interesting parallels with Sogdian paintings and ossuaries from pre-Islamic sites in modern Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The comparative study of the representations of the passage into the Zoroastrian underworld in SinoSogdian art and several Sogdian ossuaries could shed new light on the identification of Zoroastrian deities and rituals.

Downloads

Published

03.04.2022

How to Cite

Sifei, L. . (2022). Specimens of Religious Scenes on Sino-Sogdian Funerary Monuments and Sogdian Ossuaries. Journal of Asian Civilizations, 44(2), 51–65. Retrieved from https://jac.qau.edu.pk/index.php/jac/article/view/110